


To love a beast

by fish_wifey



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Demon Powers, Demons, F/M, Getting Together, Getting together speedrun, Good Demons, Horns, I will use this speedrun tag on anything; its what all my fics are tbh, Love at First Sight, Magic, Mentions of hell, Telepathy, bit of world-building, not a Beauty and the Beast au, tanaka is a hell-hound, they're both beautiful beasts, witch lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22253188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/pseuds/fish_wifey
Summary: Enlightment, warmth, optimism, and clarity. Choice options and magnifiers of yellow stones.They are his eyes, and her helper.In which Kiyoko finds the most unnatural occurrences and biggest surprises falling to her feet.And Ryuunosuke feels like he never wants to leave.
Relationships: Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	To love a beast

**Author's Note:**

> I was looking for clues for another tanakiyo au and found this instead! I wrote this oct 2018 and FORGOT.
> 
> THOSE WHO READ 379 hello yes we here, we living, clear skin, crops watered for centuries. If you comment, please no spoilers! (I am always up to date with the manga but im saying this for anime onlies).
> 
> Also, I made conscious decisions with italics, bolding, capital letters and the like. For one, this couple would think/write stuff such as god/heaven with small letters, but most Hell-things or dark magic with capital letters, because of whats important to them and what they don’t believe in.
> 
> ANYWAY!!! Please enjoy this qwq I love this pairing sooooo much and am working on writing more things for them.

The crash resounds from behind her. A plume of smoke rises from the treetops, and the smell of burnt flesh reaches Kiyoko's nose. She stands still, as if the roots of nearby trees hold her in place.

_stay_ , they whisper, the same old but soft echo, ever-present in these parts. _this is interesting_ , they urge. Shadows fall, but Kiyoko had only been afraid of the dark while she was a baby. Growing up, the dark became her closest ally. As such, she hides in it now, disappearing to where she’d come from. The fallen reverberates through the ground, quiets the hissing noise of the roots below. The earth shifts below Kiyoko’s feet.

Careful fingertips touch the nearby tree barks, pushing twigs aside. Soundless, Kiyoko steps over fearful animals, frozen in place. Their little eyes look to where Kiyoko's headed, instinct keeping them from interfering.

There's no crater. Not a single tree was damaged. There no broken branches or bushes. Just a couple of leaves, which would have fallen in two weeks’ time anyway. The change of seasons, a festival thrice a year, was nothing compared to the change in Kiyoko's heart in this moment. Rapid beats, which she has to calm by willpower. An easy feat on any other day, where strange occurrences are the norm. This feels…different. Even the trees agree.

The plume of smoke rises, and at its base, grey steam filters out in a wide circle. Kiyoko inches forward, finding the source to be a half-creature; it is stuck between forms. Kiyoko takes in the mostly human form, male, lying on his side on the soil. The skin that connects to this earth is soot-black, covered and unmoving. Apart from the steam, there's also blood oozing off his wounds. He's covered in ashes and cinders. Kiyoko’s eyes move up from where she can see skin to where his head is. Her eyes find his, his find hers, locked at once in understanding that spreads.

A hell-hound spawn. A creature that has no business to _fall_ from blue skies. It normally rises from the ground, after biting its ways out of the underworld. Yet _he_ was here. Armour shattered, one horn broken, the double forked tail twisting around itself and around the man's leg in fear and pain. A sight one wouldn’t see, ever. Kiyoko is frozen in understanding, how this shouldn’t be possible, yet it is. But why he’s here… that solution eludes her.

There's pieces of armour, some of it clinging to him like a second skin. Clear metals adorned with runes and power-infused stones are scattered all across; some of it left indents on his muscles. Kiyoko reads the rune for 'ever-flow' at the side of the throat. She can see every vein, thickened from stress and adrenaline. He carries another strange scent, bergamot and sandalwood among others. Kiyoko notices that he has no yellow stones. There's no need, as his eyes shine bright yellow. Kiyoko knows of the overkill in wearing any piece of accessory or colour that would be the same as your eyes.

These yellow ones stare at her, not blinking. 

**I am not afraid of you** , the voice pulsates from her, as she speaks to herself. Wondering if this creature would be able to pick it up. She’s never met a hell-hound before. It was the most interesting turn of events, one the cards could have never foretold her.

"I can help you," she speaks in a monotone, serene voice, lowering herself to her knees. Kiyoko’s hands spread over dry grass, unburned. Her head goes in for a slight bow, but she maintains eye contact with the beast.

**fear will not take me**

Steadier breaths are visible plumes of smoke; they come in twins from the nostrils, in one cloud from the mouth. And the horned creature inhales the same. Grey and black swirls intermingle after he filters the air. Kiyoko's eyes catch the ever so light glow of the horns, how one is broken in half. In slow, non-threatening motions, Kiyoko crawls forward on her hands and knees. Their eye contact remains, just as she closes in enough to touch him.

"Too many that touched me have perished," he speaks, a low rumbling voice, raspy from a serious fight, or a serious fall. Kiyoko's eyes give him one look, finding herself appreciating the body lying in front of her. Even if it’s half broken and damaged. He has a certain kind of rugged handsomeness to him. And that for a creature that sports no hair on his head. Kiyoko lets a smile run over her lips.

"If you do not wish to kill me, I think I should be fine," Kiyoko offers, pulling her satchel towards her lap. His eyes never leave her; she feels them on her necklaces, running down the thirteen bangles on her left arm, to the rings on her fingers. They stay on the fingers mostly, as she reveals glass bottles. A variety of colour enters the mostly grey and black. 

The hound breathes fire. His tongue are embers. The scent so pungent. Kiyoko notices two carvings at his nostril's side, very small incisions. Kiyoko holds the yet closed bottles towards him to smell that they're safe.

"If I wanted you dead or poisoned, I would have done so already."

"Some girls like to play with their food before they devour it," the man-hound replies. With malice missing in his eyes, Kiyoko's fingers unscrew the vials. While Kiyoko isn’t afraid to speed up her movements, the fallen fiend hasn’t moved a single visible muscle except his mouth. He still wasn’t blinking, which Kiyoko couldn’t remember if it was normal or not. Trying to bring peace to this unpeaceful mind, Kiyoko smiles.

"I am not one for those snake and spider practices. I'm not the animal here, in any case," Kiyoko says, hoping her voice sounds soothing. She pours a couple of purple and red vials over the nastier looking wounds. The ease in which she does doesn't betray the fact that this creature is dying. Time is of the essence to heal him, if Kiyoko wishes him alive. Usually, this wouldn’t be her business. He landed right before her feet though, as if fate willed it.

His nostrils flare again. "Hmph, the undead do not die. Our souls move on to the next stage, and return."

Kiyoko doesn’t look up from where she applies drops over drops, but from the heart she speaks now, more clearly. **thought-smeller, I did not allow you in my head** , Kiyoko thinks as she pours a grass-green vial closer to where the armour seems to have burned into the skin. With a hiss and a release of steam, the broken metal becomes loose and falls off. 

"All worlds’ Hells, thoughts that are meant for me and my well-being are hard to barricade against, witch. If you wouldn't care for my state, I wouldn't know of it," he smiles for the first time, teeth that look like knives, and a huff-sound that weakens the muscles in Kiyoko's body.

Kiyoko has cooked pudding with more substance than how she feels right now. Instead of thinking of said pudding, she wards off her thoughts into her heart, locking them away to be examined later. Kiyoko knows why it's easier for him to see into her mind. Her fingers reach for her temple, not quite touching it. Instead they float in a place where now was nothing, but before had been something. The fallen warrior has a broken horn, and he touches it now, mimicking what Kiyoko does. She shakes her head, not having meant his horns. A soft hum of power meets her fingertips, warning her. Kiyoko doesn’t sigh. She looks him over once her vials are either half or mostly empty. He sighs in relief, closing his eyes for the first time since they met.

"You cannot move, hound," Kiyoko states the obvious, looking over to his legs. His double-tail is still coiled around his thigh, but in the meantime they untwisted around each other. A more relaxed state, as some pain has soothed. 

When his eyes open, he looks away from here, closer to the ground. "And so I shall still die. Either some animals will see easy meat, or I will starve. Your charity was for nothing, woman of the woods."

Kiyoko sits up, putting her hair behind her ear once she stands. 

"I wouldn't waste valuable life-savers on objects I didn't deem worthy of saving. And in any case, this forest you've fallen is in most friendly. It won't eat those that aren't truly gone. As long as you take a breath, you can rest here. About nutrition... again, I wouldn't waste time and effort if I wasn't planning on seeing you back on your feet, shifter." Kiyoko shoves her satchel towards her lower back, then bids the creature good night. 

To the forest she says, _keep this one safe, for me_ , then bids the other creatures a good night as well.

*

*

He hears the thunder, then the lightning strike. It's far away, but the rain that will come is all around. Sighing, Ryuunosuke closes his eyes. Weak to water, Ryuunosuke hates rain with a vengeance. Yet when it falls, it falls. Lightning strikes cannot hurt him, not after having fought and sparred with his best friend over decades. The tree above him gives limited protection, and he doesn't know how hard it may rain in these parts. He cannot even warm himself, given that his life-fire is being used to keep his blood pumping, his horns from crumbling, his body from weakening.

For a moment he wishes the light to strike the tree, because it might burn and warm him. Make him feel at home. He kills that thought right away, wishing no harm on the living things all around him.

Light reaches his eyes again, so much closer. The earth didn’t shatter though, and fires are still nowhere to be found.

The rainfall hasn’t lessened, it’s just not on him anymore. It takes a moment to notice. Ryuunosuke doesn't try too hard to look for it, but he can see a clear half circle in front of him. On one side, the rain wets the earth, coming down in massive drops. On the other side, where he lies, the ground starts to dry up. Glancing up, Ryuunosuke can see the rain coming down.

It just never hits face.

*

*

She comes and feeds him, two times a day. In the morning, she checks his wounds. In the evening, she cleans them, puts balms where she finds it necessary, and re-bandages wounds. Ever the careful one in approach, Ryuunosuke knows she acts this way to show him she's no threat. Yet in every move, Ryuunosuke senses her power. She wields it veiled, in grace, in gentle touches. 

It’s so obvious to his eyes; she could nod a head, and start a war. Snap her fingers, and murder an army. Say a word, and crush a world with it.

Love truly goes through the stomach, Ryuunosuke remembers the olden saying. One evening, when she cuts through his bandages, Ryuunosuke growls out his name, instead of asking for hers. Names, where he comes from, are either taken by force and death, or given as payment for a longer life or another request. Even though he's no minor devil and cannot make crossroad bargains, Ryuunosuke would not ever ask someone's name. He has his principles.

"I'm Ryuu. Ryuunosuke. Ryuu, if you like." 

Her stare as black as the dead souls tend to be, with a golden glint rimming it, awoken interest and answered curiosity. 

"If I tell you my name, what can you do with it?" The woman of power asks, as serene and mild as the breeze.

_She knows_ , Ryuunosuke thinks, because of course this bookish woodland woman would.

"Wherever I am, if I call your name, even in whisper, you will hear me. I can cast protection around you, knowing your name. And I can give it to the Devil, to claim or extend your life as I wish."

She laughs at that. "And what if I can extend and shorten my own life at will? What then, hound Ryuu?"

"Tug of war with the Lord of the Under. Surely a pleasing activity for a witch." 

Shaking her head, she goes about her business. "You assume too much. But I am not afraid of you."

_I know._

"My name is Kiyoko, of the clear rivers and waters."

"A pure child, with not so pure intentions," Ryuunosuke grins, albeit flirting isn't his forte. He doesn't expect much. He didn't expect her to smile, either. It rings as crystal clear as the waters she claims to hail from. "I'm from the fields of Hell, as you may know."

"I do," Kiyoko says, putting her hair behind her ear. "And I do not fear the fiery depths."

Water witches wouldn't, Ryuunosuke emphasizes. That would give her the clear advantage over poisons and balms, and to cast protection against the rain. Ryuunosuke finds himself in the presence of a being that has every power and advantage of hurting him, without the ability of instant revenge. He also finds himself knowing that no piece of his undead soul wants to lay a finger on her to cause pain. Ryuunosuke bows his head to her, in gratitude.

*

*

She counts one more ring than two nights before. Careful with the sensory abilities of extended limbs and grown out bone structure, Kiyoko puts large leaves slathered in salve around the base of the horns. As she starts with the unbroken one, the rings of the other glow in golden tones. The colour runs through from the bottom of the spiral, up and up. Where the horn ends flat, the colour becomes dull, sad. It's hypnotizing, like a heartbeat. A weak heart, that could beat so much louder and prouder. She wonders, like she has on her walks before, that maybe there could be two beating...

The horns carry his power, she read in the few manuscripts written on hell-hounds. They give the ability to transform, to sense, to call on to others. Kiyoko hasn’t asked if he tried, because of course he would have done so before. She knows all too well the painful silence that comes from calling out, and knowing to be alone at the ends of the world.

"It will grow back, faster and stronger. Your other horn too. They're twins to your skull, and will generally harden the entire top structure. Every bone that breaks is the same."

Ryuunosuke gives her a look she cannot place. Eyes that appear to go through an emotion, but not yet sure which. To think he has grasped something, unsure yet of what. As if he trusts her, but isn't sure if he should. As if he knew something for certain, when nothing in life is. 

As if Kiyoko just confessed, but wasn't sure of it either. 

*

*

As soon as he can walk, he runs. 

Ryuunosuke shifts into his full hound form, five times the size of his previous form. Further ahead, in a clearing without flowers or trees, the earth opens up. His paws leave impacts as he runs for it, not a look cast over his shoulder. There's no dust to be formed after him, yet Kiyoko stands in where it could have been. The trees move in belated motion, as if they're just now sucked into the speed of the beast. He doesn't even jump into the hole, but slides in, on all four paws. Taking earth with him.

**magic could help him find his way back here, carrying that dirt** Kiyoko wants to tell the trees, and instead speaks from her heart to the one that just left. Unsure if Ryuunosuke heard it.

The coldness in Kiyoko's heart is a sharp prick that doesn't take over. As clarity washes down from her head, she releases a sigh. His master probably needs him, reason chimes. He will return, hope says. She's a fool for believing it so, scepticism hisses. Wondering about it now has no merit, Kiyoko decides in the end. She didn't heal him to stay here, and he never talked about why he crashed down as if a god cast a meteor. Their connection wasn't that deep. 

Kiyoko decided on her own to help him.

It nags her, how there hadn't been a word. As soon as he was able to stand after she suggested it, he transformed and howled. The rings glowed alight, two tiny suns blinding Kiyoko for a second. 

Flicking her wrist and turning it, Kiyoko checks her pulse. Relaxed, not elevated anymore. When Ryuunosuke's horns glowed, she felt a warmth in a chest. It was power of course, resonating between them. Not an exchange of souls, or even good byes, or even a thanks. Unstoppable forces, but not of attraction, it seems. 

Turning on her heels, Kiyoko goes on about her day. Gathering herbs for the winter, herbs that only grow now, and herbs she needs to restock. It's usually something she takes pleasure in, as it is a peaceful task. She'd find other things, new things, with every gathering. Today the green seems less so, the trees show more roots as obstacles for her. And with each of her softer steps, she hears his paws pounding in her skull, away from here, repeatingly. 

Angry with herself, Kiyoko chastises her reflection in the water later on. She left her original home to learn, to become more diverse in her powers. Not to find broken dogs and heal them, hoping for... more. 

Putting her hands into the water after handling a nasty and dirty plant, Kiyoko washes up to her elbows. It's when she decides to wash her neck too, that the water warms up. Brows quirking, she looks over the lake. There's no natural heat source this far from the mountain. And any heat plants that could spontaneously grow in three nights during the half moon, wouldn't be able to heat up a lake this large.

Sitting up on her heels, Kiyoko stands in one swift motion. She casts a protection spell, and then clicks her fingers to encourage sound reflection. But whatever is in the water, must be too deep to respond to her call. There's the sense of the earth, a thick layer. Then nothing. And then a heat unknown to the living, those who keep to the path of good and certain gods. A place Kiyoko has only studied but never visited. The final layer, and Kiyoko cannot reach further. She sighs and thinks of giving up. It's then that a voice whispers out her name. 

It's just like he said. Knowing Kiyoko's name, he can reach out to her. Ryuunosuke’s voice speaks to her heart. She stops mid-snap, her voice a soft gasp away from crying.

**Apologies for taking off like that. Here, closer to thy home, I shall gift thee a warm bath. It shall be forever thine, and only warm to thy skin. I don't know yet when I can return, but I shall.**

**Thine, truly.**

Mind-exchanges weren't a novelty to her, and she's spoke to Ryuunosuke this way... Yet hearing his voice in her mind, in her heart had such an impact that Kiyoko starts swaying. How quick she's fallen... Shaking her head, Kiyoko doesn't think of disliking it, at all. It was nice to hear Ryuunosuke once again, even as his accent was different, gruff. It shouldn’t matter for mind-speakers and heart-messages to have tone differences. Kiyoko wonders about the use of olden tongue, too.

She puts the thoughts aside, like her boots, with much delight. Her heart at ease, Kiyoko steps into the warm water. A toad croaks nearby, and Kiyoko decides that she judged the beast too soon by its actions. She couldn't look into the future, and didn't think she needed too, either.

Surprises were more fun. 

*

*

There's stains on the mirror that no one was able to get out. They're not milky white or red, which Ryuunosuke could handle on any day. The fog that settled in the corners has no reason to leave, and curls gently down the sides of the mirror. Ryuunosuke wonders about the origin of this mirror every time he looks at it. Another priority is the actual reflection, however. 

"What do you think? Overkill?" 

"No, you look good! Very sexy and stunning. Now, walk? Yes. Good. Flawless!" Yuu laughs, fluttering around him. His leathery wings are small, but extremely powerful. They let him turn at ease in the cramped grove of Ryuunosuke's dressing cave. The tips of the wings beat gently against Ryuunosuke's body. Lightning won’t be called unless they enter an arena, or a battle would erupt in the living quarters.

In the corner, Yuuji is pouting. He took one of the crates with Ryuunosuke's rations, emptied them on his bed next door, then sat down on it as a makeshift seat. His remarks on Ryuunosuke's outfit choices were unhelpful, given that grunts and shoulder shrugs don't give off a clear 'yes' or 'no'. The reason for this behaviour is obvious. Yet Ryuunosuke cannot find it in his two hearts to care for Yuuji's antics, or this amount of jealousy.

"I want to go too! It's no fair you get to say hi to a gorgeous girl without me being able to impress her and make me be liked more." 

"Yuuji, don't be an ass!" Yuu argues, settling his talons on a piece of outstanding rock. Three out of four sharp teeth lengthen, a sure sign he's getting agitating on his friend's behalf. No call to thunder, which has Ryuunosuke’s eyes back to the mirror as Yuu continues. "Don't forget the Code, Terribleshima! It's the first time Ryuunosuke actually has this happen to him." 

"Hey!" Ryuunosuke tries to interfere, distracted from looking into the mirror. It's not necessary for Yuu to defend him in the first place, but giving out low blows while he does it? 

"Yeah, so? He waited a hundred years for a woman to notice him. He can wait a hundred more."

"Cursed wicked friends, stop it. Don't ruin this. I'm already nervous to see her again!" Ryuunosuke cries, opening the closure-ties across his chest. He thinks leaving the top open does look more manlier but... he doesn't want to come on too hard, either. Kiyoko had always looked graceful. He didn't want to look like an idiot when she sees him in clothes and more human form. Leaving it open still, he adds a golden necklace with six small horns attached to it. Then he gets rid of the top altogether, throwing it to the maybe pile. A second beige top, sheerer than the leather one, finds it way over his head. 

Yuuji threw it. "At least wear something from me, then I can claim credit," Yuuji laughs, sticking out his tongue and showcasing the double tongue piercings he hides in there. As Ryuunosuke throws over the long-sleeved shirt, he keeps the top three buttons open, and rolls up the sleeves to his elbows. Yuuji nods approvingly, for once.

"Okay, tail in. Leave the horns out," Yuu opts from his place higher up, making Yuuji sigh.

"Why are you even speaking? No one needs reminding. Retracting horns like that is painful, Yuu. You wouldn’t ever fathom, I guess, with your 'tiny'-everything."

"What did you just say!?" Yuu's eyes flash purple and orange, danger colours. His wings beat once, fuming with a purplish fog around them. Ryuunosuke looks himself over once more, ready to leave if a fight breaks out. He wouldn't care about the purple fog; what's poisonous for others, doesn't kill him. And if Yuu fighting with his wings gets rids of some underworld rodents for him... 

“Noyasshi, I beg you to not call lightning. I don’t want to replace my bedding again.”

While his two friends argue, Ryuunosuke applies smudges of black make up around his eyes. Just lightly. Kentarou's stash. Kunimi put nail varnish on his nails and toenails, said he did so out of boredom more than anything. Kentarou's make up had come Ryuunosuke's way a couple of seconds after, not much words exchanged between them. Between blood-brothers in Hell, there was no need.

"When's your sister coming?"

"Next blood moon. She says the riots on Venus are getting out of hand," Ryuunosuke murmurs, applying lip balm, too. The unscented balm was a gift from his sister after he visited Venus. 

Yuuji sighs, leaning back before realizing the walls here were unfriendly to him. "If the riots are still ongoing, then why were you sent back?"

"I wasn't sent," Ryuunosuke sighs. Going to the armoury had not been fun. His armour was custom-made, to shift when he Shifts. It had been made thick for protection, yet light-weight to run with and fight in. Falling through Earth's atmosphere had done it's damage, before crashing it apart when in the unkind landing. It had vaporized by the steam coming off from Ryuunosuke’s skin, when his heat met the other worlds’. If he'd only be more careful fighting... but then he wouldn't have met Kiyoko. 

"Yuuji, stop it," Yuu warns, and Ryuunosuke can see through the stains and the fog, how Yuuji's mouth closes.

"Hey, it's war. Nothing new to it. If the Martian ancestors think they can go haywire on our actual sister-planet..." Yuuji offers, then stops himself before going into detail. Venus was made a sister-planet after Saeko's Ascension. Being a born Taurus and having small horns to prove it, her Ruling planet of her horoscope was gifted to her by the Lord of the Underworld. Not that the Venusians cared much, as long a femme fatale sits on their golden throne. But the Martians, who thought they had a claim over them, did. 

And thus, war started. Ryuunosuke had some good fights up there. Even as the Sun brewed him alive, the heat was welcome. So different from Hell-heat. Even as the deaths he claimed wouldn't count as souls in his home, it was still an honour to fight in the name of his sister. 

Until she kicked him back to earth. Out of nowhere. Just because his armour was wearing down the slightest bit, and his human-form wanted to take over more and more. How the Shift back happened, Ryuunosuke couldn’t explain after mulling it over several times. It didn't matter now. 'If's were less important in light of having met Kiyoko this way. He might have carried some of Venus's dust, a compelling scent. But once that all blew off, Kiyoko still came to visit him, to care for him. Ryuunosuke also wanted to believe that as a witch, she had protection in place to not succumb to the 'love' scent of Venus. 

"Be what it may," Ryuunosuke says out loud, stopping Yuu and Yuuji from bickering. "Freshened up like this, she might like me even more."

The confidence came whenever he is at home or from war. Hopefully it'll carry to tonight as well. 

He's ready to meet the love of his life. Again.

*

*

She watches as the first pebbles move counter-clockwise. They roll at first, then tumble. Loosening the earth in circular motion, the first spark bursts from below. Kiyoko stays at ease in the warm water, resting her chin on top of her arms as she watches. When he left, it was fast chaos.

This in turn, had a slow tranquillity to it. The earth opens up as dust goes skyward, tornado style. Kiyoko has seen wind mages work the breeze and the storms in much the same fashion. Her eyes now follow the particles, watches as distant trees resonate _welcome welcome welcome_. Their leaves blow the way of the circle. Atop their crowns, the sky is indigo blue, the stars out in force to light her night when the moon is absent. To the right of the firmament, Kiyoko had seen a bright planet before. Venus was unnaturally present these past weeks, and tonight it shines anew. With fervour. Mars had a habit to be there too, but it's light has dimmed since yesterday. Kiyoko doesn't care. If Venus is in her cards, alone in triumph, the better for her. 

The dust falls but spins forth in a twister.

It would be something if a hell-hound, a true chaos-bringer, would enter once more into her life by form of a natural catastrophe. Instead, horns first, Ryuunosuke floats upwards from below, coming from a staircase Kiyoko cannot see in this lowered perspective she is in, and only hears the heavy footfalls. Soot comes with him, and this irresistible smell of the Under, the forever hell-scape, fire and blood.

She watches as he steps out of the hole, which closes in a low, humming sound. Keys turn in the locks that close the gates to Hell, and when everything is gone, only the stars and Venus shining brightest among them remain. Ryuunosuke looks different without the twin tails. And the outfit, which covers him up more than last time she saw him. He's cleaned up now, and adorned himself with what Kiyoko would see as war make up; black nails and black eyes. He just misses the black lips.

_black heart_ , the trees chime in. _and one made of gold_ , they add. _both yours_ the cheeky young treelings say.

"We meet again," he says, as if not hearing the trees. His grin as sharp as a hunter's knife. Kiyoko cannot help but mimic it, true happiness bursting from her heart. No black lips, which could have been a stormy omen. But Mars diminishes while Venus shines on, proudly and strong. With the planet on her side, Kiyoko rises from the water, walking towards the edge of the lake, in order to exit it.

**so we do** , Kiyoko replies to his hearts, noticing the strong double-beating presence. He was blessed.

Ryuunosuke looks cool and attractive, but a sudden wave of embarrassment runs over him. Kiyoko watches the chills from the shoulders, the fidgeting of his fingers, and the red blotches on his cheeks. For a moment she wonders if this is some sort of after effect of underground travel, when she realizes that she's naked, water running over her and towards the lake.

**oh**

"I uhm! I will be over here, ugh, for a second." His voice starts out high, and Ryuunosuke grunts to lower it in the second half. It makes Kiyoko giggle into her hands. Not because green grass tickles the soles of her feet. He was a lot less shy wearing crumbled armour and veiled in fuming black fog. His decency is welcomed however, and Kiyoko enjoys having found a proper gentleman from the ashes. She finds her clothing, making not so quick work of it as to watch Ryuunosuke's squirming continue a little longer. Although he is in good health now and standing, he seems less aggressive than when he was lying broken and bleeding on his side.

The duality of Pisces, Kiyoko musters. The depths the twin fish swim, always and forever against the stream.

*

  
*

When Ryuunosuke is done smelling chicken blood in his veins, and on cue of Kiyoko's hum, he turns to her. 

It isn't exactly shock going through him. She's as beautiful as ever, which he says out loud without thinking. Ryuunosuke's eyes go up to her forehead, where dark hair parts ways to frame her face. He's missing a piece here, although he cannot place it. Before, she wore optics, but that's not the only thing. And Ryuunosuke cannot remember; this is exactly what she looked like before. But even as he had been weakened, he had only felt the odd thought that there should be more.

After the crash, his senses had been drained. With broken horns, life was tougher to experience, to actually _see_. Yet an entirely different sense comes to him now. With both _his_ horns intact, it’s so obvious.

She's hiding. Kiyoko doesn't show him everything, and it's not about the garments. There's a lack around her head, a halo that plays with his eyes, to make him un-seeing of the truth. He cannot pinpoint what it should be, because he has not witnessed it before. When he was weaker, he didn't notice. Now, his stare is going on too long, and Kiyoko plays with her hair.

"Don't be upset," are her first mouth-spoken words to him. Both her hands raise up to hover close to her temple, and she touches upon the invisible veil. For a split second, her eyes turn all black, pupils barely grey. The detail doesn’t go by Ryuunosuke’s however, as he stares down the depths; they swirl like smoke, reminding Ryuunosuke of space, of planets, of wars, of decay. And the rest of her black eyes are hungry holes, the dark matter, the deep-speech of giants and rulers. Ryuunosuke knew what she was, thought so at least. But her connection to all things dark was made clear now.

Clearer. 

So much more than a clear spring rain, or an ever-flowing stream. So much more than a woodland witch, gathering herbs to heal and to kill. From her black eyes, grey veins spread out under the skin. They run from under her eyes upwards the cheekbones, up to the temple, and into her hairline. Two perfect circles remain in her skin-tone. Because of course—

And then Ryuunosuke sees them. Long, elegant horns. Grey coloured, with pastel orange rings. 

They were so much more the same than he could have imagined. Kiyoko hadn't made a deal, however. It was so easy to understand now. 

"You were blessed by your Zodiac. And what kind of fate for us to observe...a goat, the Devil's animal," Ryuunosuke smiles, his cheeks bursting. His master and ruler, his lord and saviour. Wish-granter and life-taker. 

"Where I am from, we do not practice that kind of witchcraft, though... I have always had an interest," Kiyoko's eyes look him over, in a way that Ryuunosuke has never been looked at by a woman before. There was one guy who gave him these kind of eyes, but that was long ago... No, Kiyoko's current display of lust is a whole other level. "It's not as if I... craved it, but. Self-fulfilling prophecies, right?"

She blushes now. The light pink fits so well to her grey horns, which she touches. That's why her herbs were so fast-working, so wondrous. She had made him stronger. Hell would welcome her like a daughter. Even though they weren't the same beings, they stood on the same side of the coin. 

And it flips and flips in Ryuunosuke's stomach. 

The attraction was mutual from day one, but the pull is now undeniable strong. Ryuunosuke takes a careful first step towards her, his bare feet hardly registering the grass below him. The steps he take don’t have real footing at all. He goes forward as in a dream, waiting for a sign or even a spell to keep him away. Kiyoko does no such thing, her arms dropping to her sides. She's not one to be passive and wait, though. She meets him halfway, her hands going for his horns.

Ryuunosuke touches hers when her hands go around his. Not to measure power, but to truly know her. Gates open, and childhood images cross his mind. 

_Made, created, purpose, home. Strict, working, purpose, duty. Unwilling, running, searching. New purpose._ Ryuunosuke's thought mixes in before he can stop it, how elders should know their places. How children should learn to be free to choose and decide for themselves. How Kiyoko shouldn't have felt the need to leave her parents behind and be selfish--

"I... I am sorry, I shouldn't...." Ryuunosuke shakes his head, his horns bumping against the palms of Kiyoko's hands. They were calloused through herb-usage, as the bark of trees, the bushes, and the thorns made them thicker. Living alone gave her a thick skin in general. She knew enough remedies to help with cuts and other details, to keep her skin perfect and clean. Yet her memories bore into Ryuunosuke with the bitterness that come with herbs, the taste of biting down the green and swallowing it whole.

"No, no it's fine, it makes it easier for me, too," Kiyoko says, standing on her toes. She angles her face first, as Ryuunosuke stays rooted. It's not to distract him, or to make him forget. She could do it in any other way, too. Ryuunosuke's runes burn with delight when their chests touch. His lets his fingers run down the back of her horns, down her delicate neck, to caress her back as Kiyoko's arms slide over his shoulders.

Her lips are the softest touch his skin has ever known.

*

*

"So you're enjoying my little farewell gift?" 

"I am," Kiyoko laughs, moving her legs at leisure through the water. "May I ask how you managed that?"

Ryuunosuke rubs the back of his neck. "I have a friend who works for the tunnels, as you may have noticed. He opened a vein from one of the 'hot' places up to here. There's a thick layer of earth's crust between, so no worries of falling through."

"Are there cold places in Hell?"

"No. Just less burning. Imagine a colour range between yellow and black, with hues of orange and browns and of course, all sorts of reds between. Comfort is found in the orange and auburn sectors. Yellow is a little chilly for those who live there, but can also help to calm one's mind."

Kiyoko has told him a little about her cottage in the woods. She still hasn't spoken about how she got here. Ryuunosuke had been kind enough to notice, and offered a way out by saying 'any questions?'; Kiyoko had a couple. Her base knowledge of heaven and Hell, as they were taught in the minimal sense of the words, was far from the truth. She knew the creatures better, but even hearing of Ryuunosuke's friends opened her eyes to that. 

Horned creatures above earth were usually a bad omen for most. Kiyoko's mother has taught her to hide her horns at a young age, as to not to stick out in their village. Having them out without worry helped so much. Stopping that minor drain in energy helps her relax a lot more. The fallen object had her hide the horns on instinct, a powerful veil. Ryuunosuke’s stare made her feel as if he knew something was up, or well, down and hidden away from his seeing eyes, and his ability to smell anything.

Now, Kiyoko’s horns were free to point skyward, or to curl towards her hair, whatever way she pleases to let these bones flow out as naturally as her hair.

Opening up in this way had broken the dam, and the kiss with Ryuunosuke had been a little early but... not unpleasant. They melted well together, and after the first hesitancy was over, Ryuunosuke lifted her off the ground, swinging her around in elation. As he put her down, the kiss deepened—the trees looked away, their roots curled inwards, creatures wouldn’t come close to the water, heat came off the couple in waves and waves and waves, like a tsunami of lava. Nothing was pure, and everything was right. And that’s when their tongues touched, and any state that would come for them could be burned down in an instant.

Sitting at the water bank, Kiyoko with her legs submerged, and Ryuunosuke lying beside and around her not coming close to the water but trusting her all the same. Kiyoko finds herself in an unknown peace, a stranger that had walked in, sat down, and was now drinking tea with her demons and the darkness. It wasn't as if she missed the village or had been craving for company. She didn't believe in the kind of love between people that would make one feel 'whole'. Ryuunosuke curls behind her like a pet, when he was so much more than a novelty.

She didn't pry into his business as to why he left, or where he'd come from. Ryuunosuke told that all on his own. He left out the most gruesome business of battle, even as Kiyoko assured him she knew all about it. Her village hadn't been on the brink of anything bad, but the elders were overly concerned with being prepped as if the worst scenarios could befall them any day. As Ryuunosuke tells her about the fall back to earth (an image she'd seen, including Venus and creatures so unknown to her), Kiyoko leans over his back. Her hair falls and splays, as she looks to her side to him. 

"I know of battle, mostly the rituals and appearance of our clan."

"There's a variety of things that can only be understood through practice. I've seen witches go to war, on the other side of the earth. It's not pretty."

"No," Kiyoko agrees, thinking of spells that birth vines and thorns out of people's bodies, or make one ill. "They're not. Yours sounds a lot more... engaging and to the point."

"It was," Ryuunosuke says, his eyes downward. Venus, her mystery solved, brightens behind them. "Subject change. Did you ever astral project elsewhere?"

Kiyoko shakes her head. "It wasn't a discipline my village was familiar with. We believe in the stars and the universe. Our elders believed that the stars may influence, yet not truly penetrate one's mind or change a person. You'd find tarot card-layers and cartographers alike. And still no believers in planetary divinity. ‘Visiting’ planets was absolutely out of the question, and the books on it are…not yet written."

"I could take you to Saturn one day, if the chance arises. I'm sure you would enjoy the planets outside of this one," Ryuunosuke smiles over his biceps, his eyes having that glint of mischief and knowledge to them. Kiyoko knew some of the basic assumptions of her sign, such as lucky numbers, perfect partners, favourite colours and flowers. Her Ruling planet was Saturn. It was sweet of Ryuunosuke to acknowledge this. 

Curious and craving the physical touch, Kiyoko's hand steals under Ryuunosuke's shirt. The back of her fingers caress over his ribs, not caring to count them. She's on the other side of his hearts, and so can only sink into his warmth. 

"I would like to visit my village one day... Just to see my parents."

"Easy. I can shape-shift into my hound-form, and get a couple of sprites and demons to chase your elders away. You could have all the privacy in the world to talk to your kin," Ryuunosuke suggest and Kiyoko hears how genuine he’s being. It makes her laugh, he and the imagery he conjures into her mind.

"I'm not sure if bringing your Underworld friends would be a good idea, but... we could travel together. Do you know anyone who can speak to birds and let them carry messages?" 

Ryuunosuke's grin widens. It stretches way above his arm, behind which his head lies. 

"Crows are my kin, actually. I'm a spawn from Hell, but my mother's ancestry came from Draco, and my father was a Crow-shifter. Our family is really blessed. The stars gave Saeko the gift of Venus to claim one day, and after her last birthday, she Ascended to get her birth-right."

"Wait, return to your parentage. How did a scalie and a bird manage to spawn a hound..?"

"I'm special," Ryuunosuke laughs. He turns on his back, slowly so that Kiyoko can change her position too and stay comfortable.

"See, dragons were never supposed to come to this earth: Unnatural factor no. 1. My father wanted a longer life and dreamed of flying, so he made a pact with the Devil: Unnatural factor no. 2. Not so unnatural was the fact that my parents met and made love in their human forms. My sister is the older one, born years before me. Then, when I was born, it was on March 3rd, two threes, at 3:33 in the night. More threes. Well, at the same time, the Devil wanted to claim my father's soul as a price. Just for a couple of centuries’ service in Hell, y'know. To keep the crows that died on earth happy below. And well, see, Devil entering in your House, both the Zodiac cycle and in the actual home of your family? Unnatural factor no. 3. I was born with horns and tail, with the ability to perform multiple Shifts and withstand heat. The Devil was so surprised that he furthered my gifts, and gave my family more power in general. My dad still had to tend to the crows, but that was fine. My mom went to the stars, and my sister Saeko took care of me. At one point, we opened the portal down to visit our father."

"Which was an easy feat because of your demonic connection? Opening such a path to the Underworld should be nigh impossible..." Kiyoko says, slightly in awe. This ties in a lot with the hell-hound she found burning and fuming in the grass. Someone who 'fell' from Venus. 

"Yeaaah, shouldn't have been but, again. Hell-spawn. I didn't have to be born below ground to be able to find my way down there. My dad's feathers guided us, you see." Ryuunosuke launches into telling Kiyoko the entire story. He guides her hand to touch his horns, to give her images and sensory sensations to go along with the narration. As he plays with her horns, she feels content to float in his memories, in his growing strength, in the path he walked on feet, on paws, and he flew over with wings. 

"And so the Lord decided Saeko and I might as well live in Hell, and become formally initiated. We're both trained in battle, Saeko handling some of the funding for troops."

"You mean, the gathering of souls?"

"Exactly. I'm the brute force, as you can imagine. The ones I kill, she has to guide down, and then usually I take the lot from where she put them, in the Pits, to where our Lord wants them. I’m a bringer of war, but also a messenger of souls. That's why... as soon as... as you healed me, I was called back. It wasn't a thing where I could linger with you or explain it... The summons were there, and I had to return as soon as my paws could take me."

Kiyoko understood. She runs her horn closest to his stomach over it, nudging reassurance into his gut. 

Looking up, she sees the sky brighten ever so lightly with the first rays of the coming sun. 

*

*

They're sitting side by side on a thick three branch, watching the fireflies below. Close to them, Ryuunosuke's friends are playing around in the lake. It warmed for them the same way it did for Kiyoko, but more so because they used their own body heat.

Yuuji had known a witch in his lifetime, and was able to introduce her to Kiyoko. They may become friends, or just stay at acquaintances. For now, Hana was sitting at the lake, enjoying watching the play-fights of demons and other hell-spawn. They had been mostly civil in the presence of a strong witch. Yuu threatens to summon thunder every now and then when Kentarou behaves too roughly, or Taketora laughs too loud. There was a very shy white witch too, and Kiyoko has seen her before. But the rowdiness of the other creatures kept her at bay.

Hana made sure to let Kiyoko know, before she excused herself towards the lake. "If Hitoka of the White tribe wishes to meet us, she will send a dove. Don't worry, Kiyoko."

It was good to bring them all up for a change. They would meet their brethren from the more demonic side of Hell at a place nearby. 

"Ougiminami is a name they chose for themselves," Ryuunosuke had explained to Kiyoko earlier. “It's against the law of the lands to bring together too many powerful creatures of Hell. But when the world desires to be taken off balance, our Lord allows us this pleasure of meeting."

Nodding, Kiyoko asks about other friends. Ryuunosuke explains how he has a specific tribe, a branch from his father's side. 

"Yuu and I both know them well. Some are creatures who would be welcomed into the chaos of Hell, just like you! Others have better intentions. Yet the entire tribe is made of black, can speak to crows, and some even have shape-shift abilities."

"Shifting was always frowned upon by our elders," Kiyoko relates, a thought she’d kept to herself mostly. Ryuunosuke, not liking to hear the sadness in her voice, tries to make light of it.

"Well if they're as old as they sound, having so many frowns makes it easy," he says, hoping for the best. Her angelic laugh is all he needs to hear in this world. "And you had... many reasons to leave, I guess. You could always learn to Shift now. Hana said a winged being or a scaled one wouldn't be too hard for you to manage. Even just talking to those kind of animals first, it could give you an advantage."

Kiyoko had told him some about leaving her village, but not all. Ryuunosuke could wait, and didn't want to pry. Letting her know he was there to listen, and that she could always open up to him, was very important to his hears. He wanted her to feel safe in his surroundings, which he told her heart alone. His wishful thinking gets him places, sometimes.

"I've never imagined to find love out here," Kiyoko says when the splashes and rowdiness further down the lake come to a standstill. Ryuunosuke finds himself looking at his friends, to slowly turn to Kiyoko. Her eyes are far away. The horns' usual pastel orange rings weaken in hue. 

"Where I am from, witches are matched up. The villages require strong bloodlines, and every child born in one has to have a purpose. My mother didn't want it for me, but she made me strong. She loved my father, so the match up wasn't to her disliking... Yet she always hated the meddlesome elders. I did too, and not just because I had to hide my horns for them and the village. I like to learn new things, to figure out the new and exciting. With bloodlines, it's important to become the master of one skill, not to even attempt others as a side-quest. Every person has their duty, and for a witch knowing herbs to heal, to even think about poisons... that already was a stretch."

"And so you left," the rings in Ryuunosuke horns glow, the colour of volcanoes. They reflect the fury in his gut. "Or were you kicked out."

"They forbade me to look up poisons, to learn how to heal animals when I should focus on humans. I was interested in all witchcraft, the white, the black, the grey lines in between. No one ever talked about white witches or dark magic distinctions, but to not even have an option to learn about it... It was too oppressing. So, after talking to my parents and secretly learning everything I needed to know to survive on my own... I left before I became of age. Parents are allowed to put a rune or tattoo on their children, to know their whereabouts. Once the child is conscious of it, they can choose to upkeep the connection, sever it, or make it a two-way one. My parents told me to sever the line, and gave me a parchment with a search spell, to always be able to find them."

"If the village decided new scenery was in their agenda," Ryuunosuke interjects.

"Precisely. If I had stayed, the elders would have the right to mark me. To always know my whereabouts, my deepest thoughts. To know everything they felt the right of knowing."

"Pluto be gracious, that's no way to live," Ryuunosuke rumbles, glad that Kiyoko was able to get away from that.

"No, it isn't. In the woods is a lot of solace, and it’s lonely too..." Kiyoko knew many lonely nights and even lonelier mornings. She tells him of learning a routine and how to entertain herself. Making Ryuunosuke touch her horns, she tells him of places far and wide. To where she travelled to her heart's desires, acquiring books, herbs and knowledge from many different places. Her path always led back to her neck of the woods, to her little cottage hidden in the lively, speaking trees, who were her friends.

"It's so peaceful here... but one cannot imagine are more lonely place to be by oneself."

"You mean, when there's not a battle-hardened hell-hound falling from the sky."

They laugh, and kiss, holding hands on top of the branch. 

"Again, my offer stands. A fair lady like yourself never needs to travel afoot again. I can cross many leagues and borders, and even take you Under, and through the tunnels to reach the other side of the earth. Together, we can create pathways to even more distant lands between the stars. You will always have a comfortable seat on my back," Ryuunosuke says, kissing Kiyoko's nose, then her temple, and then, most sensually, the base of her horn. Her long fingernails curl into his palm, and if she wanted she could draw his blood.

She laughs against his throat instead. 

"I would love to. After I show you off to my parents."

"Of course, first I need to meet your makers, as you one day will meet mine, Kiyoko of the clear rivers and waters." His whispers create erotic pleasures for her horns, and Kiyoko blushes accordingly, giggling into his body. The branch creaks under the movement, but they'd never fall against their will. Kiyoko puts her hand over his shoulders, still laughing.

"That would be very well in my interests, Ryuunosuke of the fields of Hell." 

They touch horns at last, and Kiyoko says ‘yes’ to it all; the joy resounds in the trees, as they reach to the skies and under the ground. It echoes across the rivers and lakes, causing ripples, streams to change directions. It settles on the fields, and uncommon silence. A silence that will now be filled by two creatures, and their unbound love for each other.

*

*

That night, the woods and lakes don’t sleep, they take cover. The trees look away once more, and choose to sleep so they can be blind and deaf. Ryuunosuke’s friends have found a place to stay, Kiyoko giving them the cabin for the night. Kiyoko herself takes Ryuunosuke’s hand, leading him away from it. _’It would burn,’_ she said. They don’t return to the lake either. _’It would dry out,’_ Kiyoko explains, taking Ryuunosuke away from the woods, away from the grass.

They travel some time, until granite and dust greets them, howling winds taking the plains and making them most eerie in the dusk-night dark under the many stars.

Venus, once more, shines brightest of them all.

Ryuunosuke winks up to his sister, telling her to look away.

The heat he and Kiyoko would create, his newfound lover tells him, would rival the sun and the core of the earth. It was too dangerous to stay and try it out near her home. Ryuunosuke can barely agree, his mouth watering. Hell hath no fury, than a woman in love and in lust.

**Author's Note:**

> witch Kiyoko and hellhound/shifter Tanaka are my fave headcanons. like, whenever i just daydream about a fantasy au for karasuno or fhq!!, i think of them as this jsdbakjd


End file.
